John R. Wooden Award Announces Women's Late Season Top 20 Today

John R. Wooden Award Announces Women's Late Season Top 20 Today

Posted by Ernest Baskerville5sc on February 12, 2015

JOHN R. WOODEN AWARD ANNOUNCESWOMEN’S LATE SEASON TOP 20 TODAY

Los Angeles (February 12, 2015)— The John R. Wooden Award announced the Women’s Late Season Top 20 today, a list comprised of 20 student-athletes who are the front-runners for college basketball’s most prestigious individual honor at roughly two-thirds of the way through 2014-15 season. The list is chosen by a poll of national women’s college basketball media members.

Players not chosen to this late season list are eligible for the National Ballot. The National Ballot consists of 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA. The Wooden Award All American Team, consisting of the nation’s top five players, will be announced the week of the Final Four.

Connecticut, the 2014 NCAA champion, boasts three players on the midseason Top 20 list: Moriah Jefferson, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Breanna Stewart, who finished third in the voting as a sophomore a year ago. She is the only returning Wooden Award All American this season. So far this year, Stewart, a junior, is averaging 16.4 points and 6.6 rebounds, while shooting 52.6% from the field.

Three more teams put a pair of players on the list: California (Brittany Boyd, Rashanda Gray); Notre Dame (Jewell Loyd, Brianna Turner) and South Carolina (Tiffany Mitchell, A’ja Wilson). Other players of note statistically include the nation’s top scorer, Ohio State freshman Kelsey Mitchell, and the country’s No. 2 rebounder, Jillian Alleyne of Oregon.

Three players chosen to the women’s late season list are freshmen: Kelsey Mitchell, Turner, and Wilson. The ACC led all conferences with five selections, followed by the Pac-12, the American, the Big Ten and the SEC with three apiece. The Big 12 and Big East had one apiece.

The 39th annual Wooden Award ceremony will honor and reveal the Men's and Women's Wooden Award winners live on ESPN on April 10, and will include the presentation of the Wooden Award All American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award, which in 2015 will go to San Diego State Head Men’s Basketball Coach Steve Fisher.

About the Wooden Award

Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball. It is bestowed upon the nation’s best player at an institution of higher education who has proven to his or her university that he or she is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a minimum cumulative 2.0 GPA. Previous winners include such notables as Larry Bird (’79), Michael Jordan (’84), Tim Duncan (’97), Candace Parker (’07 and ’08), Kevin Durant (’09) and Maya Moore of Connecticut (’09 and ‘11). Stanford’s Chiney Ogwumike won the 2014 Wooden Award.

Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed close to a million dollars to universities’ general scholarship fund in the names of the All American recipients. The Award has also sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps in the Award’s name. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament, which brings together Special Olympic athletes and the All Americans, takes place at The Los Angeles Athletic Club the weekend of the John R. Wooden Award Ceremony.

Follow the candidates and get the latest news throughout the season by going to the Wooden Award facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/WoodenAward or twitter feed @WoodenAward. For more information on the John R. Wooden Award, please contact the Wooden Award staff at 213-630-5231 or via email at woodenaward@laac.net.